Feed-control apparatus for steam boilers



o. GNTHER FEED CONTROL APPARATUS FOR STEAM B-OILEHS 1923 5k sheets-sheet 1 Filed May 3l T0 STEAM mmm/1 Oro Gummi/s Ammers April 6,1926. l 1,579,526

p. GNTHER FEED coN'rRoL APPARATUS Fon STEAM BoILERs Filed 'May 3 1, 1925 s sheets-sheet 2 .mn/Ess INI/Enron Ano/Mfrs I 1923 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 /NvE/vron 0 fro 605A/ r//ER framers Filed May 3 1 O GNTHER FEED CONTROL APPARMUS FOR STEAM BoILERs April 6 1926.

Patented Apr. 6, 1926.

VvUNITED STATES.

1,579,526 gMTEN'I oFFicE.

erro GNTHER,r 0E ESSLINGEN, ennimngassienoa To THE sUrEmIEATEn colit-v PANY, or NEW Yonx,n.p., A communionor DELAWARE.

FEED-CONTROL All??.ARATUSl'FOBY STEAM 'BOILEB .Application filed 'May 31, 1923. y Serial No. 642,404.:

To all whom it' may concern.' v y Be it .known thatfl, VOTTO"Gri'iizvrrinn, a citiaen l' of Germany, residing atEsslingen, VV'ui-ttemberg ieifmany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in. Feed- Control Apparatus for Steam. rBoilers,V of which the following is a specification'.

This invention relates to water feed apparatus for deliveringA water toA steainboilers in such a. manner as to permit thefeed water to be delivered either into the steam space above the water level, or into thewater space belowv the water level of the boiler. Y

The construction and operation of my invention may be better understood by considering-.the varying conditions under which water maybe feld into the boiler of a power plant, such as, for example, a locomotive engine. l

When a locomotive. boiler is steaming freely, or when, by reason of operative conditions, ysuch as favorableV grades, standing at'stations, blowing4 offsteam at the safety valve, or in anyv case in which heavy demands for steam are not being made upon the boiler, it is desirable to deliver the feed water into the steam space; as, for instance, into the steam dome, or other convenient place above tl'ierwater line. This delivery of the feed water causes the water to become directly heated by the steam, and'tomingle with the water already in the boiler without such a difference inr temperature as to produce objectionable effects, Such as contrae# tion stresses, inequality of material temperatures, and the like', tending tocause leaks and other disturbances.

lVhen, however,7the boiler-is subjected to such demands for power-,development in the cylinders as to render' itv inadvisable to abstract heat directly from thesteam by the incoming feed water, it may be preferred to deliver the feed 'water into the boiler below the water line instead" of into the l v v v to permit the' use of two independent feed steam space. f

My invention'consists of an improved feed water heard provided with separate water outlets and containing valves and operating mechanism by meansl of whichthe feed water may be directed either i-nto the steam space or into. the water spacel of the boiler.l

This control of the direction of the'water is made automatically by thevariations of thesteam pressure in any desired portion of the engine, although I may provide additional mechanism by which itk may be effectedalso bymanual, operation.'

The operation of the mechanism iny my invention may be either direct or indirect, as may be preferred. l i

h In the accompanying drawings, which illu-strate an example of my invention without defining its limits, Fig. l is a vertical section, taken on the line A--C-D-E ,of`

Fig. 4, of thefeed head as designed' for indirect control, and showing the operative position of the main con-trol'valve members for permitting the feed water to pass to the steam space of the boiler; Fig.V 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showingA a` diflerentopera tive posit-ion of the'inain control. valve for permitting tlievfeed water to flow to the water space ofthe boiler; Fig. 3' is a front elevation of the feed head, one half thereof being broken away V;v Fig. l is a section on the line ofl Fig. 1; 5 is a section on the line 5"?) of Fig. 8 showing the feed head in position ona boiler; Fig. 6 is a, vertical sectionof a. modification showing a directs operated head, the partsv being shown in position to feed the water to the water space; Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6,y showing the parts in position to feed tothe steam space; and Fig. 8 is aside elevation (somewhatdiagrammatic) of a. locomotive showing an installation of the invention thereon.

The horizontal cross-section, Fig. 4, shows sources, one a feed pump,v as shown at 4l in' Fig.' 8,.shown as delivering'througli a feed Water-heater 46, and the other' an in-` jector', shown at 42, Fig; 8,.. in the cab of the locomotive. y

Referring to Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive and t0 Fig. Si, feed water is delivered tothe feed head Hv through either of the pipes l or 2 byr the feed pump ffl' or injector respectively, according to which feed' supply is to bel used,

and passes into the water chamber 5 formed in the lower portion of said head. A pair of one way or check valves 3 and 4 are provided within the head H for controlling the inlets of the pipes 1 and 2 respectively, said valves being adapted to opened by the pressure of the water passing through their respective pipes and to prevent the flow of water from the water chamber to the pipes.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a main control valve 6 is mounted within the central portion of the head H for cont-rolling the passage of water from the water chamber 5. This valve is slidably mounted, in suitable bearings provided in the head casing, for vertical movement between a pair of valve seats 15 and 18 and is arranged when' in contact with the lower seat 18, as shown in Fig. 1, to shut ofl' communication between t-he water chamber 5 and an annular passage 8 8 located below the valve seat 18. l/Vhen the control valve is in this lower position, it permits communication between the water chamber 5 5 and a passage 7 7 located above said water chamber. When the valve is in the upper position shown in Fig. 2, communication is established between the water chamber 5 5 and the annular passage 8 8 and is shut off between the passage 7 7 and the water chamber 5 5. he establishment of communication between the water chamber 5 5 and the passages 7 7 and 8 8 by means of the main control valve is automatically effected to permit the passage of the feed waterto the water or steam space of the boiler by mechanism presently to be described.

Located immediately below the control valve is a piston 9 provided on its upper face with a double annular seat 10. This piston is slidably mounted within a cylinder 11 connected as by means of the pipe 12 with the steam chest 44 of the locomotive. TvVhen the throttle of the locomotive is opened so that steam under pressure is present in the steam chest, theA pressure of such steam is communicated through the pipe 12 to the under side of the piston 9, thus causing the piston to move upwardly and force its seat 10 into contact with an annular seat 10El to out off communication between the passage 8 and an annular conical passage 18. As the piston 9 moves upwardly its upper face contacts with the loweil end of the stem of the main control valve 6 and lifts said valve against the water pressure within the water chamber 5. The upper end of the stem of the valve 6 is formed into a relief valve 14 which is normally held to its seat by the pressure of a spring 21, the valve and spring being mounted within the casing or bonnet 21a, which is provided with a plurality of apertures 22 opening to the atmosphere. The passage 8 8 extends upwardly at the right in F lgs. 1 and 2 and terminates in an annular chamber, the upper wall of which is formed to provide a seat 16a for the one way valve 16. The seat 16a isl provided with a plurality of holes 28 through which water passes from the passage 8 8 to the outlet 17 of the feed head, said outlet having connected thereto a pipe 47 which as shown in Fig. 8 extends p downwardly to the water space of the boiler. lChe passage 7 7 located above the main control valve 6 and the water chamber 5 extends to the left (F ig. l) and terminates in an annular chamber similar to the termination of the passage 8 8. rllhe upper wall of this annular chamber is formed to provide a valve seat 192L for a check valve 19 similar to the check valve 16. The upper wall of this'annular chamber is provided with a plurality of holes 24 through which the water passes from the chamber 7 7 to the outlet 20 of the feed head, said outlet having connected thereto a pipe 48 which as shown in Fig. 8 of the drawing leads to the steam space. A bleed pipe 27 leading to the atmosphere communicates with the conical passage 13 13.

Manually operated valves 28, 29, are preferably provided for closing the outlets 17, 20, of the feed head respectively.

The pipe 12 leading to the steam chest of the engine is preferably provided with a shut-off valve 40, the stem 43 of which is extended to the cab of the locomotive and is provided with a hand wheel 45 by means of which the engine-man may cut olf communication of the steam chest with the feed head. It will be observed that the two vcheck valves 16 and 19 respectively, receive the direct water pressure from the water chamber upon only a portion of their areas, but that when the pressure fromV the water chamber is exerted through the holes 23 on the right, o1' 24 on the left, an additional annular area under the seats of the valves, at 25 or 26, will receive water pressure and that this additional area under pressure will determine the lifting of the valve which receives it. It will also be seen that whenever the chamber 8 is in communication with the external atmosphere by way of the passage 13 and pipe 27 as shown in Fig. 1, the preponderance of pressure on the upper surface of the check valve 16 from the boiler will tend to hold it down; likewise when the chamber 7 is in communication with the external atmosphere through the relief valve 14 and openings 22, as shown in Fig. 2, the preponderance of pressure on the upper surface of the check valve 19 will tend to hold the said valve 19 down.

The operation of the feed head above described is as follows: The feed water is delivered to the head H by either the pipe 1, if the feed pump is used. or by the pipe 2, if the injector is used, the water in either case being delivered into the chamber 5 from 6. Then the throttle; valve of the engine is,`

opened, theV pressure of the steam within the steam chest isv communicated through the pipe liuto the cylinder 1.1, and acting upon the under side of ythe piston. 9', 'forces the piston upwardly against the water pressure in the chamber until the double annular' seat'10Y upon the upper face of the piston contacts with the seat a and shuts off the communication between the passages 8 and 13. This upward movement 0fI the piston 9 also lifts the control valve 6 and the relief valve- 14: off their` respective seats. V The water pressure in the-chamber 5 forces the valwe upwardly againstthe seat 'thus closing the communication vbetween the water chamber 5 and pass-age 7; the position ofthe parts being as shown in Fig. 2. The water passes through the holes 23' -against the under sidevof the valve 16', thus lifting the feed valve and permitting` the water to flow through the outlet. 17 and pipe 47 to the water. space of the boiler. In the meantime, the opening ofthe checlr valve 14 ventsy the passage 7 through the openings 22 to the atmosphere and permits the check valve 19 to be closed by theboiler pressure-upon its upper face.

When the pressurein the valve chest 44 ofthe locomotive engine falls, as forj example when the throttle' valvel of the locomotive engine is closed, when the engine is runi ning down hill, or is standing still, or when steam communication ,betweenthe cylinder l11 and valve chest 44 cut ofti by the valve l 40, the piston 9 and. control. valve 6 will be pusheddownwardly bythe spring`21, the parts then being in the position shown in Fig.. 1 of the drawing. lith the parts in his position, the double seat 1.0 ofthe piston 9 is. out of contact with the seat 102.1, thus' placing the passages 8 and 13 in communication, and: as the passage y13 connects with the atmosphere through the pipe 27, the pressure within these passages is relieved and the valve 16 is forced against its 'seat 16Pby the boiler pressure. The water pressure in the chamber 5 holds the main con` trol valve 6 firmly against the lower seat 13 and as the valve is out of contact with the upper seat 15, the passage 7 is now in communication with the water chamber. The pressure of the water being communicated through the passage 7 and holes 24 at the undersideof the check valve 19 causes said valve to be vraised off its seat against the boiler pressure and permits the water to flow through the passage 7 and holes 24 to the outlet 20 of the feed head and thence through the pipe 48 to the steam space of the boiler. Itwill thus be seen that the control of the direction of the feed water into either the water space 0r the steam the valve and piston.

space of the boiler is governed automatically by the variation of pressure within the pipe 12. Since vthe variation of pressure within the pipe 12 depends upon the vari-ation of pressure in the valve chest, thev de'- livery of feed lwater into therboileris auto'- matically controlled in the most efficient manner, the feed water being delivered i-ntof the steam space' when the demand for steamfor power purposes is. light or entirely stopped and into the vwater space whenthe steam which being generated by the boilerl is being' freely used. If, however, for any purpose, the operator should so desire, the feed may,v be delivered into the'steam space irrespective of the pressure .within thepipe 12 by closing the valve 40.

In' Figs. 6 and 7, I have shown another' form of my invention in which the automatic control of the feed water into the steam or water space is directly operated. Asshowi'r a head H is formed at its upper portion in cylinder 30v in'which a piston 31 is slidably mounted.' A valve 32 is suitably connected to said. piston, the upper end of said valve being reduced and threaded for the reception of a` nut 32a which serves to clamp the valve to the piston. The lower portion of the valve 32 is in the form of a hollow sleeve, the interior of which coinmunicateswith a pipe 34 through which the feed water is delivered to vthe head.. The side walls of the lower sleeve portion of the valve areprovided with a plurality of ports 32b which are'adapted to communicate with either the pipe 35 leading totheV water space `of the boiler, or to the pipe 36 leadingto Y the steamspace according tothe vposition of The cylinder 30y of the head H, is connected as by means ofthev pipe 33 with the steam chestvof the engine.

iVhen steam is admitted to the valve chest!` of the engine bythe opening of the engine throttle, pressure of such steam forces the cylinder 31 and valve 32 into'the lower po-v sition shown in Fig. 6. In this position of the parts,it will be noted. that the ports 32D arey in communication with the pipe 35 and the feed water entering the'interior of the valve 32 from the pipe 34 will pass through the ports 32b to thepipe 35 and thence to the water space of the4 boiler. When the lpressure in thev pipe 33 is relieved or cut off, the water pressure in the pipe 34 will push the valve 3,2 and piston 31-into the upper position showny in Fig. 7. In this position of the parts, the ports 32b are in alignmentwith the'pipe 36,' the water then passingA rin advantage of delivering cooler feed water thereto when there is no waste steam availabl-e for heating it. It will be understood that when the feed water is delivered into the water space, the delivery will be automatically effected by the apparatus hereinbefore described, and the feed water, at such times, will be delivered to the feed head by the pipe l connected with the feed water heater 46. The feed into the steam space permits the advantage of preheating with coincident purification of the feed water when the engine is operating at high boiler efficiency or when the pressure from the steam chest is shut off or when the safety valve is blowing off. This enables heat which would otherwise escape to be utilized, thus avoiding the injurious effects upon the strength and tightness of the boiler produced by feeding thereto water which has not been sufficiently preheated.

The connection of the chambers of the indirectly operated valves (shown in Figs. l to 5 inclusive) with the atmosphere, permits any leakage of steam or water past such valves to be observed, while the apparatus is in operation.

While I have shown my invention as applied to a locomotive boiler, it is to be understood that its use is not limited to any particular type of engine or boiler as it will be obvious that the principles of the invention herein described are applicable to the feeding of feed water into the steam space or water space of a steam boiler of any type without regard to the use to which the steam generated is to be applied.

I claim:

l. In a feed water co-ntrol mechanism for steam boilers, the combination of a housing having an outlet for receiving a connection to the steam space of a boiler, an outlet for receiving a connection to the water space of a boiler and an inlet for receiving av c-onnec tion from a source of water supply, a pressure member adapted to be actuated by fiuid pressure, and means controlled by said pressure member for shutting off the connection between said inlet and either one of said outlets while the connection between said inlet and the other outlet is open, such means including a two-ported valve which in one position permits the passage of the feed water towards the one outlet and in the other position towards the other outlet.

2. In a feed water control mechanism for steam boilers the combination of a housing having an outlet for receiving a connection to the steam space of a boiler an outlet for receiving a connection to the water space of av boiler and an inlet for receiving a connection from a source of water supply, a valve for closing said steam space outlet, a valve seat therefor having an auxiliary port, a valve for closing said water space outlet., a valve seat therefor having an auxiliary port, a pressure member adapted to be actuated by fluid pressure, a two-ported valve controlled by said pressure member and two seats for such valve, the first mentioned auxiliary port communicating with the aperture in one of such seats, and the other auxiliary port communicating with the aperture in the other of such seats.

3. In a feed water control mechanism for steam boilers the combination of a housing having an outlet for receiving a connection to the steam space of a boiler an outlet for receiving a connection to the water space of a boiler an inlet for receiving a connection from a source of water supply and two relief ports, a valve for closing said first mentioned outlet, a valve seat therefor having an auxiliary port, a valve for closing said other outlet, a valve seattherefor having an auxiliary port, a pressure member adapted to be actuated by fluid pressure, a two-ported valve controlled by said pressure member, two seats forv such valve, the first men-- tioned auxiliary port communicating with the aperture in one of such seats and with one relief port, and the other auxiliary port communicating with the aperture in the other of such seats and with the other relief port, and means for closing such relief ports, such means being actuated by said pressure member.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

OTTO GNTHER. 

